5 Barriers to Reading Aloud and How to BUST through them!

Does the idea of reading aloud together as a family sound appealing, but the reality seems like an impossibility?

In our beginning years of homeschooling, reading aloud was something we did only if we got everything else checked off the list. Kind of like stuffing that last not so important box into a moving truck if there’s enough room.

As we’ve come to recognize the many benefits of reading aloud, it has become the core of our homeschool.

It is now the first box that goes into our truck and we’ve weaved it into the culture of our home.

But sometimes even if there’s a will to incorporate more reading aloud it feels as though there is not a way to make it happen.

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Following are five common barriers to reading aloud and how to break through them:

Barrier #1) Not enough time in the day

Solution: Read 5-10 minutes when you can.  Squeeze it into pockets of the day.  Tag it onto a meal where everyone is already sitting together.

Barrier #2) Boring for kids

This is a common barrier for us because our daughter can speed read and it can be pain-staking for her to have to listen, as reading aloud takes a lot longer than reading independently.

Solution: Entice them… Bake a treat. Light a candle. Draw them in. Take the concept of poetry teatime and read a fun book instead.

Use ridiculously funny voices (this even gets the hubs to listen in!) Pick a humorous book.

Here are a few entertaining read-aloud books our kids enjoyed (these are all series books): Pippi Longstocking , The Great Brain,  Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library. 

 

 

 

For our all-time FAVORITES, check out this post.

Barrier #3) Kids can’t sit still

Solution: Have them color, paint, draw or play with play-dough or thinking putty while you read.  Let them play legos, wedgits, magnatiles, blocks.  My son LOVES Perler Beads.  Allow them to lie upside down if that helps them focus.  You get the picture.

Let them move around. Many people are better able to listen if their body is moving.  I know of such people because I’m married to one, and a parent to another! 

Barrier #4) Little siblings

Solution: Bring out the crayons, play dough, rice bin, beans, stickers, etc.  Invest in some busy bags., or make your own quiet bins.

If you’re ok with a little TV maybe save the TV for read-aloud time.  I know at our house we don’t do much TV time, but it helps if  we do it at the same time each day and then they know it’s just part of the routine.

Or have a few special activities you only pull out for read-aloud.  Maybe a special toy that can keep their interest.

Barrier #5) You are in survival mode.

Maybe you’ve had a recent health change, or you have crippling fatigue (been there).  There could be a new baby, a death in the family, mental health challenges or other life changes.  Any number of things could cause us to be living in survival mode.

Solution: Audiobooks!  Audiobooks don’t need to be saved for “survival mode” but they are definitely your best option if that’s where you find yourself.

Final Read-Aloud tip:

If you find a book dull, put the book away and try something else.  There are so many books to choose from. Don’t waste your energy on a book you or your children don’t enjoy!